Edited by
Magnus Nordborg

Quantitative Genetics: A Collection of Articles

eLife publishes advances in quantitative genetics, including the genetic basis of complex traits, the maintenance of genetic variation, and their roles in evolution.
Collection
Han et al.
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For most traits, phenotypic variation is continuous and caused by genetic variation in multiple genes, interactions among these genes, and interactions with the environment. The field of quantitative genetics focuses on these so-called quantitative traits, aiming to understand the genetic architecture underlying trait variation as well as the evolutionary causes and consequences of this variation. Quantitative genetics plays a key role in understanding the origins of biodiversity, diseases affecting human health, the impacts of climate change, and selective breeding of plants and animals. This collection highlights a series of important papers that delve into some fundamental questions in this field.

Collection

    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Gene expression variability in human and chimpanzee populations share common determinants

    Benjamin Jung Fair, Lauren E Blake ... Yoav Gilad
    Similar evolutionary pressures on gene expression between human and chimpanzee populations contribute to the observation that inter-individual gene expression variability is similar across genes in these species.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Rare variants contribute disproportionately to quantitative trait variation in yeast

    Joshua S Bloom, James Boocock ... Leonid Kruglyak
    Rare, evolutionarily recent variants have larger effect sizes and are more likely to decrease fitness, providing evidence that quantitative traits in yeast have evolved under purifying selection.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Genetic and environmental perturbations lead to regulatory decoherence

    Amanda Lea, Meena Subramaniam ... Julien F Ayroles
    Infection and metabolic syndrome lead to a loss of molecular regulation, and changes in molecular correlations are under genetic control as revealed by the presence of correlation quantitative trait loci.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Genetic variation in adaptability and pleiotropy in budding yeast

    Elizabeth R Jerison, Sergey Kryazhimskiy ... Michael M Desai
    Substantial heritable genetic variation in adaptability and the pleiotropic consequences of adaptation exists in budding yeast, and can be explained by a combination of fitness and specific segregating alleles.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Spontaneous mutations and the origin and maintenance of quantitative genetic variation

    Wen Huang, Richard F Lyman ... Trudy FC Mackay
    Whole genome DNA sequence analysis, genome wide gene expression and complex organismal phenotypes in Drosophila mutation accumulation lines provide a robust estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate and mutational effects.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    Linking traits based on their shared molecular mechanisms

    Yael Oren, Aharon Nachshon ... Irit Gat-Viks
    Systematic analysis of a broad spectrum of behavioral and physiological traits reveals novel relationships among complex traits, and resolves their underlying combination of genetic loci and molecular mechanisms.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Genetic interactions affecting human gene expression identified by variance association mapping

    Andrew Anand Brown, Alfonso Buil ... Richard Durbin
    Multiple replicated examples of epistasis affecting gene expression in humans are identified, some explaining a substantial proportion of the variation in expression.
    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Reduced signal for polygenic adaptation of height in UK Biobank

    Jeremy J Berg, Arbel Harpak ... Graham Coop
    Many prior signals of polygenic adaptation on human height do not replicate in the UK Biobank.
    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Polygenic adaptation on height is overestimated due to uncorrected stratification in genome-wide association studies

    Mashaal Sohail, Robert M Maier ... Shamil R Sunyaev
    Polygenic selection signals in humans estimated from previously existing GWAS should be viewed with caution due to concerns about residual population stratification.
    1. Plant Biology

    The genetic architecture of host response reveals the importance of arbuscular mycorrhizae to maize cultivation

    M Rosario Ramírez-Flores, Sergio Perez-Limon ... Ruairidh JH Sawers
    Heritable variation in the benefit maize plants receive from arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi supports the feasibility of breeding crops to optimize use of this ancient symbiosis.
    1. Ecology
    2. Plant Biology

    Natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana defense metabolism genes modulates field fitness

    Rachel Kerwin, Julie Feusier ... Daniel J Kliebenstein
    Environmental heterogeneity may contribute to the high levels of genetic variation in glucosinolate genes found in Arabidopsis thaliana.
    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Ecological adaptation in Atlantic herring is associated with large shifts in allele frequencies at hundreds of loci

    Fan Han, Minal Jamsandekar ... Leif Andersson
    Hundreds of loci underlying ecological adaptation to different environmental conditions show striking differences in allele frequencies between ecotypes of Atlantic herring.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    An integrative genomic analysis of the Longshanks selection experiment for longer limbs in mice

    João PL Castro, Michelle N Yancoskie ... Yingguang Frank Chan
    Genome sequencing of mice selected for longer limbs reveals that rapid selection response is due to both discrete loci and polygenic adaptation.

Contributors

  1. Magnus Nordborg
    Reviewing Editor